Maria Elena Lorenzo

Maria Elena Lorenzo is an Afro-Mexican cook specializing in native cuisine from Costa Chica of Guerrero, Mexico. She is most known for her restaurant Tamales Y Elena Antojitos, heralded as the first Guerrero-style Afro-Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles.

Early life and career Maria was born in Costa Chica of Guerrero, Mexico, a predominantly Afro-Mexican community. In 1992, Lorenzo and her husband Juan Irra moved to Los Angeles, California.

After coming to the U.S., Maria and Juan began to cook and sell their native Afro-Mexican style tamales from a small cart in the Watts neighborhood of Bell Gardens, California.

In 2022, Lorenzo's Tamales Elena y Antojitos was featured in the Netflix series Taco Chronicles.